


This is Love

by Armin_05



Series: PJO songfics [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: After Gaea, F/M, For King and Country, I don't remember the PJO timeline so fight me, I mean who doesn't she's a queen, Karaoke, Percy can sing, Songfic, Who loves Annabeth, he's a dork, this is love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 04:03:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16077995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Armin_05/pseuds/Armin_05
Summary: A month after the fight with Gaea, Jason invites them all for a karaoke night as a belated celebration. Percy gets forced to sing, even though he doesn't want to (for once)





	This is Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [warriorcat04](https://archiveofourown.org/users/warriorcat04/gifts).



> Hey! Welcome, everybody. I apologize if this fic isn't as great as some of the others in this series, I wrote it basically in one weekend because I forgot the prompt for it existed for a while.  
> Title is from "This is Love", by FKaC, as I'm sure you may have guessed, both from the tags and if you've read the others in this series.  
> Like I said in Pioneers, prompts are welcome for this series, but you must have both prompt and song. I fail at creativity if I don't have a prompt, tbh.  
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Percy did not want to sing. He did not want to be at a karaoke bar, a month after Gaea's defeat, with the Seven plus Nico and Will (or rather, the Six plus Nico and Will). He _wanted_ to be at home, curled up on the couch with his baby sister and his mom and Annabeth and Paul, watching a movie. But he was here, at a karaoke bar with the Six plus Nico, a month after Gaea's defeat, on Open Karaoke Night, no less.

 

Anyone and everyone could sing, they just had to go up to the little booth at the back of the room to request their song, and it seemed half of Manhatten had decided tonight was the night to try out their singing voices. Having been here an hour, Percy could rightfully say only about 1/8th of the people here could actually carry a tune to save their life.

 

Currently, a loud, screechy voice assaulted Percy's ears, and the person who owned the voice was equally as loud. Looking at them made Percy's eyes hurt. Jingle, jangle, bling, blang, anything and everything in a bright color and shiny rested on this person's form.

 

He didn't want to be here, yet here he was.

 

Last month, they had fought Gaea and lost Leo. The funeral for everyone had been just a few days after, but most of them had spent the last month still mourning. Percy and Annabeth hadn't – what was the use? - but Leo's death still obviously affected the rest of them. Regardless, Jason had apparently found a flyer for this place and invited them all as a belated victory celebration.

 

Annabeth sat across the table from him, chatting with Piper. They hadn't seen each other in a while, which was the only reason Percy hadn't asked to go yet. She should get to spend as much time as possible with her female friends, few as they were.

 

Jason, Hazel, Frank, Will and Nico were somewhere in the room. Percy was pretty sure they'd gone to get food and drinks from the bar on the other side of the room, but they'd been gone a while.

 

He pulled his jacket tighter around himself with one hand, rubbing his temple with the other. It was cool in here, despite the bodies piling up, and the noise and the smell was starting to give him a headache. They must have turned the AC way down due to how many people there were. If Annabeth or Piper were cold, they didn't show it.

 

The person currently singing finally stepped down, and Percy said a mental thank you. They were _not_ in the group of people who could sing. He looked away as they jangled past to their seat.

 

“Hey, Percy, are you gonna sing? You should, you're the only person in our group who hasn't,” Piper said encouragingly. “You should show the people here what real singing is.”

 

“I'd rather not,” Percy replied, leaning his head on his hand. His head felt heavy, the headache not helping.

 

“Are you alright? You look exhausted,” Annabeth asked. Percy smiled sleepily at her. She looked gorgeous, wisps of blond princess curls falling from her braids. Storm-gray eyes glanced over him, probably picking out things that would tell her what was wrong that Percy would never have noticed.

 

“I'm fine. I just didn't sleep that great last night,” True. He'd been up and down all night with his sister so his mom and Paul could sleep. Tomorrow, once he'd gotten away from the noise and smell of here, he'd be fine.

 

“We'll leave soon,” Annabeth promised as Jason popped up from amongst the crowd. He walked up with five drinks held precariously in his arms. Piper jumped up to help as Percy spotted the rest of their gang appearing with food.

 

“Sorry we were gone so long, the line for food was huge,” Hazel apologized sweetly, setting down wings and fries. Frank sat beside Percy, Hazel beside him.

 

“It's fine,” Annabeth answered for the three of them as a man got up on stage. Percy recognized him. He was the owner of the place and had gotten up on stage several times to pull someone from the crowd when no one got on stage quick enough.

 

“Hello, hello, hello everyone. Several people came in recently, so I'm gonna reintroduce myself, at least, reintroduce for those of you that have been here a while,” He winked, garnering a few chuckles. “Name's Peter Bradley, I own this here establishment, and I'm gonna pull someone from the crowd to sing, all right?” He also spoke in a fake southern drawl. Like, really fake. Percy had only been far south once, but he was pretty sure no one down there actually spoke like this man.

 

“Now, I've been pulling up newcomers from the crowd, but there's a couple of y'all that have been here a while and have yet to sing, so I'm gonna pull one of you up. And don't worry, I remember faces better than I know the back of my hand, and I know the back of my hand pretty well,” He exaggeratedly winked again, then peered out into the crowd. His eyes quickly landed on Percy, who blanched.

 

_Don't pick me don't pick me don't pick me-_

 

“And you, young man with the black hair. Why don't you come on up? C'mon, c'mon. Up you come.” Bradley beckoned cheerfully. Percy glared, but he was too far away for it to be truly effective. Hazel, Frank, Will, and Annabeth gave him sympathetic looks, while Piper and Jason encouraged him, and Nico looked away. Despite his sympathy, Frank nudged him to go up.

 

“Looks like he needs some encouragement folks,” Bradel said. “What do we say when someone doesn't wanna come up?”

 

“Go face your fears!” The crowd cheered. Well, those in the crowd that had been there a while. Percy scowled, even as he got up from the chair. He already knew from watching that once Bradley had picked someone out, he wouldn't let up until they caved.

 

Percy really wanted to be home.

 

His legs carried him up to the stage anyway.

 

"That's it, that's it. Now, why don't you tell the crowd your name?” Bradley suggested. Percy glared again, and this time Bradley saw it. He chuckled nervously. “Never mind. Why don't you tell me your song?” As he spoke, he attempted to maneuver Percy by the arm to the center of the stage. He growled, just loud enough for Bradley to hear, and the man backed off, raising a hand.

 

With Bradley a good few feet from him, Percy glared around the room. The people hushed, and Percy's growing headache thanked them. The lights stared into his eyes, making it difficult to see past the stage. A bead of sweat rolled down his neck. Where it had been cold down there, it was hot up here. His muscles were still chilled, though.

 

Despite that, though, his eyes landed on Annabeth. Or who he thought was Annabeth. He was looking in the right general direction for it to be Annabeth. Despite the what-ifs, at the thought of her, his irritation cooled.

 

And he had his song.

 

He whispered it to Bradley, who nodded with a wide smile. “An excellent choice. You stand here with the mike, yeah? I'll set it up.” He flounced to the booth at the back of the room. After a moment, he gave a three two one countdown on his fingers and the song started.

 

/ _It was like a movie/_

_/When I first met you/_

_/The moment moved me/_

_/I still remember/_

_/Your soul of beauty/_

_/It stole me away/_

_/Away/_

 

He'd fainted the first time he saw Annabeth. What could be more of a fairy tale beginning? More of a romance novel beginning?

 

_/Richer or poorer/_

_/Better or worse/_

_/Could we be together/_

_/Could we make this work/_

 

His voice felt rough, sounded deeper than usual. The tune floated from his lips effortlessly all the same.

 

/ _If love is patient/_

_/And if love is kind/_

_/Oh God, give me a sign/_

_/You've got me thinking/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love that I'm feeling/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love, I believe it/_

 

He and Annabeth had been through so much together. From Zeus' lightning bolt to Gaea. Everything had just made them stronger together. This was love.

 

_/I'll kiss you only/_

_/Darling I promise/_

_/To hold you gently/_

_/And still be the strongest/_

_/I'm yours completely/_

_/No matter what comes our way/_

_/I'll love you to the end of my days/_

_/Til the end of my days/_

_/Could've never imagined/_

_/We'd find each other/_

_/A classic romantic/_

_/Of unlikely lovers/_

_/Some kind of magic/_

_/How two can turn into one/_

_/To one,/_

 

For real. A daughter of Athena and a son of Poseidon? No one would have ever imagined they'd be so strong together, considering their parents. But here they were. Percy would rather be with no one else. He started bouncing on his heels.

 

_/For rich or poor/_

_/Better or worse/_

_/We'll be together/_

_/Yeah, we'll make it work/_

_/Love is patient/_

_/I know love is kind/_

_/Thank God I saw the sign/_

 

He was going to make this song his wedding vows.

 

_/You've got me thinking/_

 

Not really, but it could be.

 

/ _This is love/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love that I'm feeling/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love, I believe it/_

_/I'll kiss you only/_

_/Darling I promise/_

_/To hold you gently/_

_/And still be the strongest/_

_/I'm yours completely/_

_/No matter what comes our way/_

_/I'll love you to the end of my days/_

_/Til the end of my days/_

 

His throat hurt, and his headache had been building, but the song wasn't over.

 

_/Til the end of my days/_

_/Til the end of my days./_

 

A quick breath. His chest felt tight, strangely.

 

_/Run, run, run, run with me/_

_/As one, one, one, we will dream/_

_/Of a beautiful love mystery/_

_/So run, run, run, run with me/_

 

The background vocals gave Percy a moment to catch his breath. Man, he was ready to be home, but this would be worth it to see Annabeth's face.

 

A deep breath.

 

Back into it.

 

_/This is love/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love that I'm feeling/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love/_

_/This is love, I believe it/_

_/I'll kiss you only/_

_/Darling I promise/_

_/To hold you gently/_

_/And still be the strongest/_

_/I'm yours completely/_

_/No matter what comes our way/_

_/I'll love you till the end of my days/_

_/Till the end of my days/_

_/Till the end of my days/_

_/Till the end of my days/_

 

Another moment, another few breaths. He was sweating, and his hands shook. It was _cold_ in here, and he didn't know why.

 

_/Till the end of my days/_

_/Till the end of my days/_

_/Till the end of our days/_

_/I'll love you till the end of our days/_

 

The song ended, Percy's chest heaved as he set the microphone in the holder. People moved to let him pass easily. He could see his group smiling, but his eyes focused on Annabeth. She smiled, stood.

 

Percy's pace picked up, she moved forward, all was silent. Her arms slid around his waist, his around her shoulders. He pressed a kiss against her forehead, a silent promise. She leaned back to look up at him with a smile.

 

“Well?” Someone in the crowd in front of him shouted. “Kiss the girl!”

 

Annabeth laughed, the best sound Percy had heard since the last time he heard her laugh. He snorted, scanning the crowd to see who had yelled, but they were all so packed in, there was no telling.

 

“You heard the man,” Annabeth smirked. “What are you waiting for?”

 

Percy shrugged and leaned in. Annabeth's smirk turned into a real smile, still pressed against his lips, and she tasted like fries. Percy closed his eyes, barely hearing the crowd cheer.

 

There was nowhere else he wanted to be.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! I apologize for my romance writing skills, specifically my kisses, being terrible. I've never been kissed before and writing romance gives me secondhand embarrassment. I'm trying, though. I can only get better if I keep trying.  
> As for what happened after they kissed, they go to Sally's house and find out Percy got a fever from somewhere. Idk, his sister, maybe. Have fun imagining Annabeth getting onto him for being sick and not telling her. Then he gets her sick, obviously. Sick time cuddles!  
> Anyway, see you next story! Have a great day!


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